About the artwork

Shiranui's sacrifice for Oki - Okami, artwork by Capcom

Shiranui's sacrifice for Oki is a limited-edition fine art print from the official Capcom Okami art collection. This giclee is made from original Okami video game concept art. The print is hand-numbered, stamped with the Clover Studio logo and embossed with the Capcom logo.

Amaterasu (天照) in Japanese mythology is the goddess of the sun. Her full name is Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami (天照大神) which means: "the great God who shines in the heaven". She is regarded as a direct anchestor of the royal Japanese family. In the cult video game classic Okami, Amaterasu appears in the shape of a white wolf and Okami means "wolf" in Japanese. The player controls this wolf in a classic adventure game that structurally resembles Nintendo's classic Zelda series.

The adventure game Okami is probably most known for it's original, Japanese sumi-e inspired cel-shaded artwork though and it's Celestial Brush gameplay: a gesture-system used by the player to draw Japanese characters and shapes to perform miracles.

The game is set sometime in classical Japanese history. The game combines several Japanese myths, legends and folklore to tell the story of how the land was saved from the serpent Orochi and Yami ("darkness") by the Shinto sun goddess, named Amaterasu, who took the form of a white wolf.

The game was developed by Japanese Clover Studio and published by Capcom. The development studio does not exist anymore but the three Japanese artists that have been mostly responsible for the visual style of Okami are Takeyasu Sawaki, Kenichiro Yoshimura and Mari Shimazaki. Sawaki is reponsible for this print. Takeyasu Sawaki is a well-known character designer and art director, known for his work on Devil May Cry and the very special game that is his brainchild, El Shaddai, Ascension of the Metatron. Takeyasu Sawaki exhibits regularly in international art galleries.

Apart from Okami, Kenichiro Yoshimura and Mari Shimazaki are also known for their fantastic character designs for video game Bayonetta and costumes for Soul Calibur.

Other work by Capcom

Akuma Ryu Ken

Sakura Shouting

Akuma

More about Capcom

Capcom is one of the best known Japanese developers and publishers of video games, known for creating famous franchises such as Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Street Fighter. Originally established in 1983.